3 ms·

Could Microsoft's investment be seen as a HUGE strategic blunder? I don't think Microsoft would have invested had they known Apple would flourish so well. They

by zaidf 16y ago

Could Microsoft's investment be seen as a HUGE strategic blunder? I don't think Microsoft would have invested had they known Apple would flourish so well. They would rather see a competitor crumble and die. So why did they invest? And if they hadn't, were there others waiting to bail out Apple? I could google all this but figured there must be many who weren't 10 years old when this happened :)

aaronbrethorst 16y ago
They were in the thick of their antitrust battle with the federal government, and needed a competitor.
cabalamat 16y ago
> Could Microsoft's investment be seen as a HUGE strategic blunder? Oh I don't know. Maybe Microsoft's shares in Apple will be its most valuable asset in another 10 years... (1/2 joking)
- chollida1 16y ago
  they sold those shared long ago.
csmeder 16y ago
as "Anechoic" pointed out, this was not friendly gesture of MS they were forced into this. "Later testimony in the U.S. D.O.J. Microsoft anti-trust trial revealed that, at the time, Apple was threatening Microsoft with a multi-billion dollar lawsuit over the allegedly stolen code, and in return Bill Gates was threatening with the cancellation of Office for the Mac. [2] [3] In August 1997, Apple and Microsoft announced a settlement deal. Apple would drop all current lawsuits, including all lingering issues from the "Look & Feel" lawsuit and the "QuickTime source code" lawsuit, and agree to make Internet Explorer the default browser on the Macintosh unless the user explicitly chose the bundled Netscape browser. In return, Microsoft agreed to continue developing Office, Internet Explorer, and various developer tools and software for the Mac for the next 5 years, and purchase $150 million of non-voting Apple stock. The companies also agreed to mutual collaboration on Java technologies, and to cross-license all existing patents, and patents obtained during the five-year deal, with one another." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Canyon_Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Canyon_Company

by zaidf 16y ago

aaronbrethorst 16y ago

They were in the thick of their antitrust battle with the federal government, and needed a competitor.

cabalamat 16y ago

> Could Microsoft's investment be seen as a HUGE strategic blunder? Oh I don't know. Maybe Microsoft's shares in Apple will be its most valuable asset in another 10 years... (1/2 joking)

chollida1 16y ago
they sold those shared long ago.

csmeder 16y ago

as "Anechoic" pointed out, this was not friendly gesture of MS they were forced into this. "Later testimony in the U.S. D.O.J. Microsoft anti-trust trial revealed that, at the time, Apple was threatening Microsoft with a multi-billion dollar lawsuit over the allegedly stolen code, and in return Bill Gates was threatening with the cancellation of Office for the Mac. [2] [3] In August 1997, Apple and Microsoft announced a settlement deal. Apple would drop all current lawsuits, including all lingering issues from the "Look & Feel" lawsuit and the "QuickTime source code" lawsuit, and agree to make Internet Explorer the default browser on the Macintosh unless the user explicitly chose the bundled Netscape browser. In return, Microsoft agreed to continue developing Office, Internet Explorer, and various developer tools and software for the Mac for the next 5 years, and purchase $150 million of non-voting Apple stock. The companies also agreed to mutual collaboration on Java technologies, and to cross-license all existing patents, and patents obtained during the five-year deal, with one another." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Canyon_Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Canyon_Company